This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

The International Diversification Puzzle Is Not As Bad As You Think

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Jonathan Heathcote
Fabrizio Perri

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

In simple one-good international macro models, the presence of non-diversifiable labor income risk means that country portfoliosshould be heavily biased toward foreign assets. The fact that theopposite pattern of diversification is observed empirically constitutes the international diversification puzzle. We embed aportfolio choice decision in a frictionless two-country, two-good version of the stochastic growth model. In this environment, which is a workhorse for international business cycle research, we derive a closed-form expression for equilibrium country portfolios. These are biased towards domestic assets, as in the data. Home bias arises because endogenous international relative price fluctuations make domestic stocks a good hedge against non-diversifiable labor income risk. We then use our our theory to link openness to trade to the level of diversification, and find that it offers a quantitatively compelling account for the patterns of international diversification observed across developed economies in recent years.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w13483.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: Access to the full text is generally limited to series subscribers, however if the top level domain of the client browser is in a developing country or transition economy free access is provided. More information about subscriptions and free access is available at http://www.nber.org/wwphelp.html.

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Publisher Info
Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 13483.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Oct 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13483

Note: EFG IFM
Contact details of provider:
Postal: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Phone: 617-868-3900
Email:
Web page: http://www.nber.org
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: ().

Related research
Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
F36 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Financial Aspects of Economic Integration
F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Cantor, Richard & Mark, Nelson C, 1988. "The International Transmission of Real Business Cycles," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 29(3), pages 493-507, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Tesar, Linda L., 1993. "International risk-sharing and non-traded goods," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1-2), pages 69-89, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Susanto Basu & John G. Fernald & Miles S. Kimball, 2006. "Are Technology Improvements Contractionary?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1418-1448, December.
    Other versions:
  4. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1982. "Interest rates and currency prices in a two-country world," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 335-359. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Martin D. D. Evans (Georgetown University) and Viktoria Hnatkovska (Georgetown University), . "Solving General Equilibrium Models with Incomplete Markets and Many Assets," Working Papers gueconwpa~05-05-18, Georgetown University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Nicolas Coeurdacier, 2006. "Do trade costs in goods market lead to home bias in equities?," 2006 Meeting Papers 111, Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!]
  7. Baxter, Marianne & Jermann, Urban J, 1997. "The International Diversification Puzzle Is Worse Than You Think," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(1), pages 170-80, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Stockman, Alan C & Tesar, Linda L, 1995. "Tastes and Technology in a Two-Country Model of the Business Cycle: Explaining International Comovements," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(1), pages 168-85, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Giancarlo Corsetti & Luca Dedola & Sylvain Leduc, 2006. "Productivity, External Balance and Exchange Rates: Evidence on the Transmission Mechanism Among G7 Countries," NBER Working Papers 12483, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Karen K. Lewis, 1999. "Trying to Explain Home Bias in Equities and Consumption," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(2), pages 571-608, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Portes, Richard & Rey, Helene, 2005. "The determinants of cross-border equity flows," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 269-296, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. David K. Backus & Gregor W. Smith, 1992. "Consumption and Real Exchange Rates in Dynamic Exchange Economies with Nontraded Goods," Working Papers 92-7, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
  13. Uppal, Raman, 1993. " A General Equilibrium Model of International Portfolio Choice," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(2), pages 529-53, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Kollmann, Robert, 2006. "International Portfolio Equilibrium and the Current Account," CEPR Discussion Papers 5512, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Daron Acemoglu & Jaume Ventura, 2002. "The World Income Distribution," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 117(2), pages 659-694, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Karsten Jeske, 2001. "Equity home bias: Can information cost explain the puzzle?," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, issue Q3, pages 31-42. [Downloadable!]
  17. Charles Engel & Akito Matsumoto, 2006. "Portfolio Choice in a Monetary Open-Economy DSGE Model," NBER Working Papers 12214, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  18. Eric van Wincoop & Francis E. Warnock, 2006. "Is Home Bias in Assets Related to Home Bias in Goods?," NBER Working Papers 12728, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Cole, Harold, 1988. "Financial Structure and International Trade," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 29(2), pages 237-59, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Amir Amadi & Paul Bergin, 2006. "Understanding International Portfolio Diversification and Turnover Rates," NBER Working Papers 12473, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, 2001. "The Human Capital of Stockholders and the International Diversification Puzzle," Working Papers 2001-12, Brown University, Department of Economics.
    Other versions:
  22. Brainard, William C & Tobin, James, 1992. "On the Internationalization of Portfolios," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 44(4), pages 533-65, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  23. Aart Kraay & Norman Loayza & Luis Servén & Jaume Ventura, 2005. "Country Portfolios," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(4), pages 914-945, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  24. Heathcote, Jonathan & Perri, Fabrizio, 2002. "Financial autarky and international business cycles," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 601-627, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  25. Lewis, Karen K, 1996. "What Can Explain the Apparent Lack of International Consumption Risk Sharing?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(2), pages 267-97, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  26. Douglas Gollin, 2002. "Getting Income Shares Right," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(2), pages 458-474, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  27. Roberto Rigobon, 2007. "Asset Prices and Exchange Rates," Review of Financial Studies, Oxford University Press for Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(4), pages 1139-1180. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  28. Juan Carlos Hatchondo, 2005. "Asymmetric information and the lack of international portfolio diversification," Working Paper 05-07, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. [Downloadable!]
  29. Gehrig, Thomas, 1993. " An Information Based Explanation of the Domestic Bias in International Equity Investment," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 95(1), pages 97-109.
  30. Schmitt-Grohe, Stephanie & Uribe, Martin, 2004. "Solving dynamic general equilibrium models using a second-order approximation to the policy function," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 755-775, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  31. Peter M. Demarzo & Ron Kaniel & Ilan Kremer, 2004. "Diversification as a Public Good: Community Effects in Portfolio Choice," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(4), pages 1677-1716, 08. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  32. Devereux, Michael B & Sutherland, Alan, 2006. "Solving for Country Portfolios in Open Economy Macro Models," CEPR Discussion Papers 5966, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  33. Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh & Laura Veldkamp, 2007. "Information Immobility and the Home Bias Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 13366, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  34. Cédric Tille & Eric van Wincoop, 2007. "International capital flows," Staff Reports 280, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  35. Michaelides, Alexander, 2003. "International portfolio choice, liquidity constraints and the home equity bias puzzle," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 555-594, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  36. Coeurdacier, Nicolas & Guibaud, Stéphane, 2006. "A Dynamic Equilibrium Model of Imperfectly Integrated Financial Markets," ESSEC Working Papers DR 06014, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School. [Downloadable!]
  37. Backus, David K & Kehoe, Patrick J & Kydland, Finn E, 1992. "International Real Business Cycles," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(4), pages 745-75, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  38. Bottazzi, Laura & Pesenti, Paolo & van Wincoop, Eric, 1996. "Wages, profits and the international portfolio puzzle," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 219-254, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  39. Coeurdacier, Nicolas, 2006. "Do Trade Costs in Goods Market Lead to Home Bias in Equities?," ESSEC Working Papers DR 06011, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School. [Downloadable!]
  40. Heathcote, Jonathan & Perri, Fabrizio, 2004. "Financial globalization and real regionalization," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 119(1), pages 207-243, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  41. Christian Julliard, 2003. "The international diversification puzzle is not worse than you think," International Finance 0301004, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Akito Matsumoto, 2007. "The Role of Nonseparable Utility and Nontradeables in International Business Cycle and Portfolio Choice," IMF Working Papers 07/163, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  2. Eric van Wincoop & Francis E. Warnock, 2006. "Is Home Bias in Assets Related to Home Bias in Goods?," NBER Working Papers 12728, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Andrea Raffo, 2006. "Net exports, consumption volatility, and international real business cycle models," Research Working Paper RWP 06-01, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, 2006. "The Research Agenda: Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas on Global Imbalances and Financial Factors," EconomicDynamics Newsletter, Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 7(2), April. [Downloadable!]
  5. Harald Hau & Helene Rey, 2008. "Home Bias at the Fund Level," NBER Working Papers 14172, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Martin D. D. Evans & Viktoria Hnatkovska, 2005. "Solving General Equilibrium Models with Incomplete Markets and Many Assets," NBER Technical Working Papers 0318, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Fabrice Collard & Harris Dellas & Behzad Diba & Alan Stockman, 2007. "Goods Trade and International Equity Portfolios," NBER Working Papers 13612, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Michael B. Devereux & Alan Sutherland, 2008. "Country portfolios in open economy macro models," Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute Working Paper 09, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. [Downloadable!]
  9. Cedric Tille, 2005. "Financial integration and the wealth effect of exchange rate fluctuations," Staff Reports 226, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Cédric Tille & Eric van Wincoop, 2007. "International capital flows," Staff Reports 280, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Fabio Ghironi & Jaewoo Lee & Alessandro Rebucci, 2007. "The Valuation Channel of External Adjustment," NBER Working Papers 12937, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Devereux, Michael B & Saito, Makoto, 2006. "A Portfolio Theory of International Capital Flows," CEPR Discussion Papers 5746, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. Martin D. D. Evans & Viktoria Hnatkovska, 2005. "International Capital Flows, Returns and World Financial Integration," NBER Working Papers 11701, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Viktoria Hnatkovska & Martin Evans, 2005. "International Capital Flows in a World of Greater Financial Integration," Computing in Economics and Finance 2005 419, Society for Computational Economics. [Downloadable!]
  15. Charles Engel & Akito Matsumoto, 2005. "Portfolio Choice in a Monetary Open-Economy DSGE Model," IMF Working Papers 05/165, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Kollmann, Robert, 2006. "International Portfolio Equilibrium and the Current Account," CEPR Discussion Papers 5512, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? IDEAS also indexes software components.

This page was last updated on 2008-8-19.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.